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5 COMMON MAKEUP MISTAKES

5 Common Makeup Mistakes

It seems the makeup world is constantly changing. Trends come, trends go, and many get recycled. I’m sure we’ve all fallen victim to a trend or two, after all, nobody’s perfect! However, I still see some offenders of bad 90’s trends, and many people using outdated techniques. Here are 5 common makeup mistakes and quick fixes for each of them!

1. Super Thin Brows

If you’re like me, you may still be dealing with the aftermath of the ultra thin 90’s – early 2000’s brows! What were we thinking? Maybe it was an attempt to go the opposite of the super full 80’s brows, but we definitely took it to the extreme. Like I said, some of us are STILL waiting for ours to grow back! For the most part, ultra thin brows are not very flattering. In fact, a lot of cartoon female villains have thin, highly arched brows, whereas the princesses have fuller, more natural shaped brows.  Fuller brows define your eyes and help your facial features look a little more balanced. As we age, it’s not uncommon for our brows, lashes and hair to start thinning. Fuller brows are often associated with a more youthful appearance.

Eyebrows are like picture frames for your eyes. There are multiple different brow products to choose from to help you. You can use Brow Pencils to add natural looking hair strokes, outline, and even fill in your brows. Brow Powders work well for this too, as well as pomades. Brow gels are a great way to enhance & add texture to your natural brow hairs while setting them at the same time.

2. Wrong Foundation Shade

We’ve all seen it, the person walking around with a body and neck one shade, and a face a completely different shade! To be honest, I myself was guilty of this multiple times! Logically, many of us choose a foundation shade that matches our face, mainly the cheek area. Well, we were doing it wrong! When choosing a foundation, choose the shade that matches closest to your neck, not your face. It’s pretty common for our faces to be a little lighter than the rest of our neck and body. A lot of face products have some sunblock in them, which can also cause your face to be lighter, as well as certain vitamin deficiencies.

Choosing a foundation that matches your neck will give you a natural, flawless finish. When applying, don’t stop your foundation at your jawline. Continue down your chin into your neck until it is seamlessly blended. If you’re stuck between two shades, go with the darker one. Shades lighter than your complexion tend to be more noticeable.

3. Dark Lip Liner/No Lip Liner

I think the 90’s left many of us confused about the purpose of lip liner. I mean, if it wasn’t black or super dark brown, what was the point? Well, one is to provide neatly defined lips. Lip Liner is great for creating a neat, clean outline of your lips to fill in with product. This is especially helpful when applying bold or dark colors, and this is the appropriate time to use the bold or darker liners. After you’ve lined your lips, you can fill them in with your lipstick or gloss, but don’t go past the liner. This will leave you with a perfectly defined pout.

When it comes to pulling off nude lip shades, I feel lip liner is a must! Nude lip colors can easily cause your lips to awkwardly blend into your face, making it hard to see your actual lips. Not only does it look weird, but it makes your lips look smaller too. Lip Liner fixes this problem. Choose a slightly deeper shade of liner than your lipstick color. If you are deeper complected, you may want to go deeper colored liner. Before you apply your lipstick or gloss, line your lips as usual. Next, use the liner to fill in the inner corners of your lips, creating a slight ombre effect. This will help keep your lips defined and visible instead of blending into your face. This is why there are so many different shades of lip liners, to pair with all the varieties of lipsticks & lip glosses! Just PLEASE, let’s leave the black lipliner in the 90’s!

Gloss With Lipliner vs No Liner
I didn’t realize the difference in lighting until it was too late. Pictures are unedited for real before & afters.

4. Forgetting About Bronzer

Never underestimate the power of bronzer! Whether it’s winter, aging, or both, our complexion can easily look dull. A simple solution to this is using bronzer. Bronzer helps add natural looking color and life to your face in a way that blush alone can’t. It’s a great way to warm up your complexion and give your face some definition at the same time. When I’m in a hurry, bronzer is the only makeup product that I will use! I apply it to my cheekbones, forehead, jawline for a subtle glow, and I’m out the door! This usually works best with a warm, matte bronzer. Our Take Home The Bronze Anti-Orange Bronzer by theBalm is great for this because it comes in 3 different shades to suit a variety of skintones.

5. Random, Dark Under Eye Eyeliner

Last is my biggest (and probably only) makeup pet peeve! I’m not sure when or why it started, but some people love wearing random, dark eyeliner under their bottom lashes. When I say random, I mean a dark line under the lashes with absolutely nothing else on the rest of the eye except maybe mascara! This is just an overall bad idea. First, it just looks awkward and out of place. It is like you started to get ready and then decided to stop! Dark liner and any eyeshadow along your bottom lash line is usually applied AFTER the upper eye is finished.  It’s purpose is to balance out and finish the overall eye look. 

Dark eyeliner under your bottom lashes with a blank upper lid has another unintended effect, you look tired! It makes your eyes look droopy and heavy underneath.This is pretty much the opposite of using concealer or brighteners under your eyes to open and lift them. If you want to use liner along your bottom lid, try one of two things. Use it on your upper eyelid as well for a nice even look. If you don’t want eyeliner on your upper lid, apply your eyeliner to your bottom waterline instead of under your lashes. It’s a lot more subtle, and much more flattering to the eye!

The most important thing about makeup is to have fun and do what makes you feel your best inside & out!